Saturday, September 8, 2012

NASA's 33-Degree Kline-Konnektion

NASA (with its somewhat serpentine-looking symbolism) was formed on July 29, 1958.

The "National Aeronautics and Space Administration" came out of a milieu of experimental rocket plane research that had been made possible by the Ordo Templi Orientis occultist, Jack Parsons.

One such project was a supersonic plane called the Bell X-1. It's pictured, below - and colored orange no less. See further on and here, for more orange.

And one earlier player in the transition between U.S. Air Force rocket planes and NASA space rockets was the so-called "father of space medicine," Harry George Armstrong - even though he is said to have retired from the Air Force a year before the creation of NASA.

Of course, the Armstrong name was in the news just a few weeks [25 August 2012] ago when the "Space Legend," Neil Armstrong died. There are some very interesting connections with the Armstrong name, which I partially explored here.

As Jim Brandon directed my attention to the following: "[T]o this day [7 December 2007 - MJB] that Neil Armstrong will not give any interviews to anyone about his astronaut career. He just will not speak about what he saw and did as an astronaut. I suspect that he and many of the other astronauts are burdened with many secrets and that they live in fear of blurting them out" (Richard Sauder interview with Linda Moulton Howe).

Weirdly, the following headline appeared in the Guardian newspaper earlier this year: "Neil Armstrong breaks his silence to give accountants moon exclusive[:] Notoriously reclusive Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong gives video interview to Certified Practicing Accountants of Australia". It turned out to be his last interview granted to, of all groups, "the Certified Practicing Accountants of Australia".

Loren Coleman, at the CopyCatEffect weblog also commented on Armstrong's passing. He noted, here, that the highly symbolic "Apollo 11 Moon Landing" had very strong connections with Freemasonry.

Kleinknecht

For example, Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin allegedly took a small Freemasonic flag with him to the moon, which flag was then presented to high-ranking Freemasons at the "House of the Temple" in Washington D.C. See, here.

Above, we see Christian Frederick "Fred" Kleinknecht Jr. (33-degree Mason, whose name is pronounced, I believe, like /klīn-kənnekt/) welcoming astronaut Buzz Aldrin to the Temple.

"Klein" can also have the sense of "clean." Pictured, just above, is one of the several alchemical symbols for "purification," or "cleaning." It looks something like a serpent on an arrow or spear - some might say that it looks a bit like a "dollar sign." The arrow/spear is certainly a projectile made to be thrown, and it is a symbol associated closely with Apollo, Athena, Artemis, Hecate, etc. See here.

(Ronald Reagan greets C. Fred Kleinknecht. Cf.: "When it came to corporate greed, the Great Communicator [Ronald Reagan] was also the Great Enabler. ~ William Kleinknecht", qtd. from here.)

But the moon-flag event was not just attended by one member of the Kleinknecht family. Apparently, Mr. Kleinknecht Sr. also was in attendance.

The above photograph is supposed to show the actual flag-presentation. From left to right are depicted the Masonic "Sovereign Grand Commander" Luther A.
Smith, Edwin E. Aldrin Sr., C. Fred Kleinknecht, Jr., C. Frederick
Kleinknecht, Sr., and Buzz Aldrin himself.

Now an interesting thing about this meeting of Freemasons is that C. Fred Jr. has a brother by the name of Kenneth S. Kleinknecht. On NASA's website, we can read the following biographical sketch: "Kenneth S. Kleinknecht started his career in 1942 at the Lewis Research Center after graduating from Perdue [sic.] University with a B.S. in mechanical engineering. In 1951, Kleinknecht transferred to the Flight Research Center in Edwards, CA. After NASA formed, he then transferred to the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston in 1959. Before being named the manager of the Mercury project, Kleinknecht was active in the National Air Races, served as supervisor for a number of avionics tests at Lewis, and was the Head of the Project Engineering Station for the X-1E. Additionally, Kleinknecht served as the Advanced Projects Management Officer on the X-15 project and as the Technical Assistant to the Director of the Manned Spacecraft Center. Source: 'Kenneth Kleinknecht' biographical file 001205, NASA Historical Reference Collection, NASA History Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC."

Kenneth Kleinknecht worked on the X-15 with Neil Armstrong at the Dryden Research Facility.

The Dryden facility is where NASA would later develop technology allowing for the piloting of commercial airliners, such as Boeing 720s, via remote control: "In 1984 NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) teamed-up in a unique flight experiment called the Controlled Impact Demonstration (CID), to test the impact of a Boeing 720 aircraft using standard fuel with an additive designed to suppress fire. The additive FM-9, a high molecular-weight long chain polymer, when blended with Jet-A fuel had demonstrated the capability to inhibit ignition and flame propagation of the released fuel in simulated impact tests. On the morning of December 1, 1984, a remotely controlled Boeing 720 transport took off from Edwards Air Force Base (Edwards, California), made a left-hand departure and climbed to an altitude of 2300 feet. It then began a descent-to-landing to a specially prepared runway on the east side of Rogers Dry Lake. ... The aircraft was remotely flown by NASA research pilot Fitzhugh (Fitz) Fulton from the NASA Dryden Remotely Controlled Vehicle Facility."

Besides being the manager of the "Mercury" project, Kenneth Kleinknecht was also involved with the Apollo missions. Above, Ken Kleinknecht is pictured dining with Apollo 7 crew members.

The above article indicates that Ken Kleinknecht (33-degree Mason) was the manager for the "Command and Service Modules" for the Apollo program.

Interestingly, the USS Essex was the naval carrier used to "recover" the Apollo 7 crew after the "splashdown" at the conclusion of their mission. Essex had been scheduled to recover the crew of Apollo 1, but never got the chance because they were burned alive at Cape Canaveral. Additionally, "Essex was the main vessel on which future Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong served during the Korean War." The Wikipedia article goes on to say that the crew of the Essex had been "sworn to secrecy" regarding involvement in President Kennedy's "Bay of Pigs Invasion." (As one can see from the postcard, Cape Canaveral used to be called "Cape Kennedy.")

The name "Essex" itself suggests several intriguing connections. For example, in the UK, "Essex man" apparently apparently designates something very like what in the U.S. might these days be termed a "Neocon" - War Hawk type, etc. And "Essex Girl" seemingly connotes a young woman "characterized as unintelligent, promiscuous and materialistic". This conjunction of "Es-Sexes" reminds me of a remark attributed to the (some consider savant) director Stanley Kubrick who reportedly said: "The great nations have always acted like gangsters, and the small nations like prostitutes." Of course Kubrick directed the movie A Clockwork Orange. (The movie poster has prominent "A"-like fractal features. The NASA logo, of course, has two "A"s. Apollo is said to have had Artemis, the moon-goddess, as a twin sister. Elsewhere, I point out that the name "Artemis" is possible to render as "Arm-strong." The "A" is suggestive of a pyramid.) Moreover, the "2nd Earl of [Essex]" was a "title of Robert Devereux. ?1566--1601" an "English soldier and favourite of Queen Elizabeth I"; he was "executed for treason" (cf. here). Furthermore, the "Essex Skipper" happens to be an orange-colored butterfly. "Skipper" is a nautical term meaning "master" or "captain." More generally, it has come to designate "a captain or leader, as of a team."

(A-Orange)

C. Fred Kleinknecht, as Masonic "Commander," was something of a skipper too.

Jim Brandon again pointed out that: "Neil A. Armstrong ... received a scholarship from the U. S. Navy to study aeronautical engineering at Purdue University. ... In 1952, Armstrong returned to Purdue University and graduated with a bachelors degree in aeronautical engineering in 1955" (From Linda Moulton Howe: Here).

Of course, Kenneth Kleinknecht was also a graduate of Purdue University. And Purdue is in "West Lafayette, Indiana". One can read about the interesting onomatological features of "Lafayette" here and here and here.